Plant Light Calculator

No. Many plants do fine with natural light if they're close enough to a window. A grow light makes sense when your home has low light, the plant is far from a window, or it needs extra light during the dark winter months.

Most houseplants need 10–14 hours of light per day. Succulents and cacti up to 16 hours. A timer is very handy so the lighting runs automatically and the plant's day-night rhythm stays consistent.

Typical signs: the plant grows sparse ("leggy"), leaves become paler or yellowish, the spacing between leaves increases, new leaves stay smaller than older ones, and variegated leaves turn increasingly green.

Regular LED lamps often don't have the right light spectrum for plant growth. Plants mainly need red and blue light. Specialized grow LEDs are optimized for this and give noticeably better results. There are also affordable full-spectrum LEDs that work well for most hobby gardeners.

This depends on the lamp's power. LED grow lights can usually hang 8–16 inches away without burning the leaves. Fluorescent tubes 6–12 inches. The stronger the lamp, the farther away it can be. Watch your plant: if leaves turn brown, the lamp is too close.

For most hobby gardeners, LED grow lights are the better choice: they use less power, don't get hot, last longer, and come in many compact forms. Fluorescent tubes (T5/T8) are cheaper upfront but cost more to run and are bulkier.